


Inking

by orphan_account



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, edd is in highschool au, enjoy your angst, i'm sorry i tried to write more angst i really did, paul and patryk honestly try to be edd's dads, thought some really sweet fluff would cheer me up, tom and matt go on a quest, update: HAHAHA i changed my mind about the fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-17 00:40:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9296630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: soulmates AU where any and all markings on your soulmate's arm appears on your own arm. A teen named Edd ends up writing messages to his soulmate on his arm. But his soulmate isn't exactly the romantic type. More the world domination type, to be honest.





	1. Chapter 1

 

Edd sat with his eyes barely open in math class as the teacher droned on and on (lol it’s the first sentence and we’ve already got ourselves a cliché). No, he didn’t like maths. He was into art. He was pretty sure his soulmate wasn’t too happy with the impressive number of cartoons he scribbled on the back of his hand and arms every day. He took his pen and absent-mindedly wrote the first thing that came to mind.

_Hi._

He tried to force himself to pay attention. He succeeded for about three seconds before getting distracted and returning to draw some more on his arm.

He was surprised when, in red pen, there was a word.

**Hey.**

Edd had never considered this side of the biological trait linking everyone to their soulmate. It could be used like a chatroom. Edd felt suddenly nervous. This was the person he had to spend his life with. He had to make a good impression.

_My name’s Edd._

Almost instantly, a reply appeared. **Tord.**

_That’s your name?_

**Yes.**

_I’m guessing you’re not English._

**Norwegian. Where are you from?**

_England._

**Nice to meet you. I’ve enjoyed seeing your drawings.**

Edd went red with embarrassment. _I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to bother you!_

**No, I mean it. You’re very talented.**

Edd felt himself smile. _Thank you._

**What’s it like in England? I plan to visit there someday soon.**

_Boring, really. What’s it like in Norway?_

There was a pause, and Edd could only assume his soulmate was thinking the question over.

**Cold.**

Edd laughed out loud by accident and the whole class, including the teacher, turned to look at him.

‘Is there something funny you’d like to share with us, Edward?’ the teacher asked pointedly.

‘N-No, miss,’ he said quickly.

She seemed satisfied with the answer and returned to teaching her class.

_I have to go. Talk later?_

**Sure. 11 pm Oslo time.**

_What’s that in England?_

There was another pause. Edd hoped his soulmate hadn’t left.

 **10 pm** came the final answer.

_Great. See you then._

**Bye, Edd.**

It was then, seeing his soulmate use his name in such a casual way, that Edd felt his heart jump at the thought of someone caring enough to be his soulmate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So remember when I said this was going to be a fluff one shot of joy and happiness and stuff? I LIED! But at least this one's a long chapter. Also, Edd's family is not based on his real family. I made those characters up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope most of this makes sense. If it doesn't, I'll try and explain at the end of the chapter.

His first conversation with his soulmate was hardly something he wanted to forget, but Edd had run out of space on his arm to write. He was just about to take a shower after he got home to wipe the ink from his arm when the words faded and vanished of their own accord. Tord clearly had the idea first.

At 9:55 pm, Edd and his family were sitting in the living room. He checked his phone for the time, then jumped up, faked a yawn and said, ‘Right, I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day and I’m tired. G’night.’

His parents only muttered something before he left.

The reason he lied was because his parents were strong disapprovers of the whole idea of soulmates. They weren’t soulmates, and had married simply because their parents insisted. Edd also knew that his parents were homophobic, and that he’d never be able to tell them he was bi. So they could never know who his soulmate was. He’d never heard the name, but he was sure Tord was a boy’s name.

He went to his room and sat at his drawing desk, taking a black pen from his pencil case. On the back of his hand, he wrote, _Hi again._

Almost immediately, the reply came. **Hello, Edd.**

_I meant to ask, how old are you?_

**21.**

Edd stared at the number on his wrist. Twenty-one was five years older than him. He’d been picturing a high school student.

_You never tried to seek out your soulmate before now?_

**My life is busy. I suppose I had better things to do.**

_What exactly do you do? Are you in college?_

There was a very, very long pause that made Edd think – why would it take someone so long to tell him what their job was?

**That’s classified.**

Edd suddenly felt wary. What was “classified” supposed to mean? Was his soulmate some kind of spy? Was he just secretive? Was he some kind of criminal?

_What is that supposed to mean?_

**I can’t tell you.**

_We’re soulmates. I’m destined to end up with you for all eternity. You’ll have to tell me your job sometime._

There was another long pause. Edd hoped he hadn’t offended Tord. Then more numbers began to appear on his skin. A phone number.

Eagerly, Edd took his phone and began to punch in the number into his keypad. The phone began to ring. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. He was about to actually speak to his soulmate! He was finally going to hear his voice! He could hardly wait.

When the phone clicked and he was connected, he didn’t hear what he expected.

‘Hello?’ said a bored and monotonous voice. It wasn’t accented at all.

‘Is this Tord?’ Edd asked.

‘No, this is Patryk,’ said the voice. [i am so sorry]

‘Um… sorry, I- I must have gotten the wrong number,’ Edd said anxiously.

‘No, no, hang on,’ Patryk said. Edd heard heavy footsteps, like boots on tiles, on the other end, and then two voices, one of them Patryk’s and the other _very_ accented voice. Edd pressed his ear right against the phone to make out the voices.

‘ _It’s for you, Leader.’_

‘ _What are you doing? I told you not to answer the phone for me!’_

_‘Sorry, sir. It won’t happen again.’_

_‘Damn right it better not. I swear to God, Patryk, if you screw up one more time…’_

Edd could only assume that Patryk had gotten the message, because the second voice never finished his sentence. However, the short conversation had only sparked more questions in Edd’s mind. Was _this_ Tord? Why did Patryk call him “sir” and “leader”? Why did Patryk sound English if Tord was in Norway?

‘Hello?’ said the voice. ‘Edd, are you there?’

‘Tord?’ Edd asked hopefully.

‘That’s right. It’s good to finally speak to you.’

‘Um…’ Where to start? ‘Could you… tell me a little more about what’s going on? I’m confused.’

Tord sighed a little. ‘I’ll try my best. Fortunately, this is a secured line, but we’ve only just met. Once we get to know each other better, I’ll explain everything.’

Edd was even more worried now. Nothing about this seemed right. What was going on?

‘Before I begin, may I ask you how old you are?’ Tord said.

‘Sixteen.’

‘And only one other question.’ There was another pause, as if Tord was weighing over whether to ask anyway. ‘Are you sure you want to know?’

Edd felt dizzy. Was that some sort of threat? Of course he wanted to know!

‘Yes.’

There was a sound that Edd couldn’t recognise, but he thought it sounded a little like Tord _clicking his tongue_ in disappointment. Edd wondered what he’d gotten himself into.

‘Very well. My name, as you know, is Tord, and I’m a soldier.’

Edd bit his lip. A soldier? His soulmate was a warrior?

‘Actually, I’m not just a soldier. I’m the commander of an army based in the Bygdøy Peninsula, directly underneath my own manor and spreading out into the underground for miles. We call ourselves the Red Army, but I myself am known as the Red Leader.’

And that’s when everything finally clicked.

For months, wanted posters had been scattered everywhere across Europe, all promising a five hundred thousand pound reward for the capture of the infamous Red Leader, a radical communist whose true name was unknown. The pictures on the wanted poster showed a young man in a red and blue uniform holding a gun. The image was embedded into the minds of everyone Edd knew.

Of course. It was just his luck to get a criminal mastermind for a soulmate.

‘Edd? Are- are you still there?’

‘I’m still here,’ Edd said. ‘But- but why are you telling me all this? Aren’t you worried I’ll tell someone?’

‘Will you?’

‘I- I don’t know.’

‘Well, it doesn’t matter either way. Because now I’ve told you, you’ve never going to see your home again.’

Edd suddenly felt very, very afraid. ‘Wh-what?’

There was a dark chuckle on the other end. ‘Oh, Edd. You didn’t honestly think I’d be stupid enough to reveal the exact location of my Army’s base to a sixteen-year-old kid?’

‘But- but we’re soulmates!’

Another cold laugh. ‘And I’m the leader of an army. I don’t have time for things as petty as love, Edd. But I can promise your safety. I won’t kill you. I just can’t let you go.’

 _That’s just great,_ Edd was about to retort angrily, when something whizzed through his open bedroom window and pricked his neck.

 _A tranquiliser dart?_ he thought, rolling his eyes. _How cliché is that?_ But before he could think anything else, he passed out.

 

Tord had lied.

He sat in his office alone, pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes shut. Running an army was something, all right. It gave him power, and it also gave him fame. But most of all, it gave him headaches.

Yes, Tord had lied. Thankfully, he was twisted enough to hide his guilt deep down – that’s an important skill when you’re a mass murderer. But he had still lied. Facts were facts.

He had said that he didn’t have time for things as petty as love. That was fair. He was a busy man, and he didn’t get a lot of time on his hands. But what he did get on his hands was a message. _Hi._

When he’d seen that, he regretted it immediately. He’d spent a long, long time avoiding interacting with his soulmate for one reason – to avoid falling in love. And he tried to stop himself picking up that red pen, he really did. But then he wrote _hey._ And then there was a reply. And then he was talking to his soulmate.

Tord tried to justify his actions to himself. _I gave him a choice! He didn’t have to know. He insisted!_

But he countered that argument easily. _He’s sixteen. He had no idea what was coming._

He’d told Edd the truth because he wanted his old self back. He didn’t like this feeling of… _love_ or whatever it was. It was distracting and a setback. So he’d forced himself to kidnap Edd, to bring back the old Tord, the ruthless one who would stop at nothing to reach his goal.

_Or did you kidnap him because you wanted to see him?_

_No!_

_You’d already sent Paul to kidnap him before you told him anything._

_That was merely a precaution!_

_You’re soulmates. You’re going to fall in love whether you like it or not._

_…Shut up._

Ah, yes, what better way to encourage a headache than to have a fight with oneself. In half an hour, his soulmate would arrive here and Tord would have to speak to him.

Might as well start practicing what he was going to say now.

With a sigh, he rolled down his jacket sleeve to cover the written conversation they’d had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically, the reason Tord replied to Edd in the first place was because he wanted to take his mind off his work. But now he's conflicted - he shouldn't be wasting his time on stupid things like love. So he sends Paul to England to kidnap Edd, even before he told Edd everything. And now he /almost/ feels guilty for hurting Edd.  
> I'm so sorry if you expected more fluff T_T


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom and Matt decide to go on a quest to save their best friend  
> HA DID YOU THINK THIS WOULD BE A TORDEDD CHAPTER  
> YOU WERE WRONG  
> oh but thanks to everyone who gave me support for the last chapter, i mean without you guys this would have just been a oneshot but now it's a qUEST

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry if this makes no sense
> 
> and yes i know people dont actually climb out windows

Back in England, a sixteen-year-old boy named Matt had just sent a text message to his soulmate.

_Tom! You’ll never believe what I just saw._

He waited a few minutes, realised that Tom always went to sleep at 9:30, and withdrew a Swiss Army knife from his hoodie pocket.

A moment later, a sixteen-year-old boy called Tom jolted awake to a stabbing pain in his arm. He looked at his right arm to see a shallow wound in the skin.

Matt’s favourite form of communication with his soulmate was stabbing himself in the arm. The pain Matt experienced was worth it for annoying Tom. Tom, after recovering from the shock of a shallow stab wound, reached for his phone and opened his messages.

_What the hell, Matt?!_

_Tom, someone kidnapped Edd!_

_WHAT?!_

Tom’s phone began to ring. He answered it immediately. ‘Tell me everything.’

‘Okay,’ Matt said. ‘So, this afternoon I saw Edd had all this writing on his arm. So I looked a bit closer and I saw he’d been talking to his soulmate.’

‘Did you get it word for word?’

‘No, I only saw bits and pieces. Anyway, so I thought I’d show up out of the blue, knock on his window, and get him to show me what he’d been talking about. So I was sitting in one of the trees near his room, waiting for the right time when this dart went through the air and hit Edd in the neck!’

‘What? Jesus, they had a dart?!’

‘They had a dart! And then Edd passed out and this guy with crazy huge eyebrows crawled through his window, put him in a sack and took him away!’

‘Took his away _where?!_ ’

‘I think they put him in a helicopter!’

‘A _helicopter?!_ What kind of person with a helicopter would want to kidnap Edd?’

‘I have a theory.’

‘Oh, let’s hear it,’ Tom sighed. ‘I need a laugh.’

Sitting with his back against the outer wall of Edd’s house, Matt scowled. ‘I think his soulmate is the Red Leader, and he’s sent someone to kidnap Edd.’

Tom snorted. ‘Are you serious? You’re way to paranoid.’ Every day at school, Matt always went on and on about the Red Leader – he had some sort of obsession. Whenever the slightest thing went wrong, it would always be the Red Leader’s fault.

It was just his luck to get a conspiracy theorist for a soulmate.

‘Listen, can you get here?’ Matt asked. ‘We need to save him.’

‘We don’t even know where he is!’

‘I told you. They work for the Red Leader. They took him to the Red Army base.’

‘Which could be anywhere in the world!’

‘Just come here. I have another thing to tell you.’

‘Fine. But you’d better not be setting me up.’

Tom quickly changed into his blue hoodie. He thought for a moment before grabbing a backpack and filling it with food from his houses kitchen, trying not to wake his parents. Who knew how long Matt would talk for? He went back to his room before quietly climbing through his window and into the cold and bitter night. Edd only lived two streets away, so it wasn’t long before he arrived outside his friend’s window, where Matt was already waiting.

‘So what’s this other thing you have to tell me?’ Tom asked when he arrived.

‘I, er… I recorded Edd’s conversation with his soulmate.’

‘ _What?!_ ’

Matt had always been great at hacking. Edd was his friend, and Matt wanted to know about his soulmate. If Edd wouldn’t tell him, he’d find out himself.

‘Tom, I’m not crazy when I say the Red Leader is his soulmate,’ Matt insisted. ‘He _confessed_ to it. Listen.’ He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small recording device, on which he pressed a button.

Edd’s entire conversation with Tord replayed. Tom’s black eyes grew slowly wider throughout the recording.

‘Holy shit, we just found out where the Red Leader’s base is!’ he exclaimed when the recording was over.

‘Not only that – we discovered his _name_ ,’ Matt said in awe.

Tom crossed his arms. ‘You and your obsessions. You’re probably just jealous that Edd got him as a soulmate and not you.’

‘I am not!’

‘Whatever. Anyway, what should we do? Call 999?’

‘Are you kidding me?! The Red Army would find out! They’d kill us!’

Tom sighed. ‘Well, what do _you_ suggest we do?’

‘I say we go rescue him. I’ve studied him for years – I know his strengths, his weaknesses, and everything else.’

Tom loved Matt, of course – they were soulmates, and not only that, best friends as well. Matt had a lot of crazy ideas, and that only made Tom like him more. Not to mention the fact that he could never say no. Matt wanted to break into a top secret base belonging to a criminal mastermind? Of course Tom would end up going along with it. It was just their thing.

Tom smirked. ‘You think he’d kill us _less_ if we payed him a visit instead of calling the cops?’

Matt leaned against the wall of Edd’s house and slumped down to the ground. ‘I don’t know.’

There was suddenly a loud bang as the front door to Edd’s house was slammed open and his parents, looking furious, turned to Tom and Matt, who paled.

‘Where’s our son?!’ Edd’s father demanded.

‘Er,’ Matt said.

‘What have you done with him, you scoundrels?!’ Edd’s mother cried, on the verge of tears.

‘Er,’ Tom said.

‘Stay exactly where you are!’ Edd’s father warned them.

Neither Tom nor Matt felt like that was a good idea.

‘Run!’ Tom shouted. They raced down the street, turning corners so quickly they almost fell over, not risking looking over their shoulder to see if they were being followed. When they reached Tom’s house, they pushed the window open and tumbled inside onto the floor.

They lay there for a while, chests heaving, not saying a word. Then Tom began to laugh. Matt laughed too. Soon they were in hysterics, shoving their knuckles into their mouths to try and not wake Tom’s family.

‘I _hate_ you,’ Tom said, grinning broadly.

‘Hate you too, soulmate,’ Matt chuckled. ‘So, what are we gonna do? Edd’s parents are gonna kill us when they find us. And who knows how long Edd has? We need to do _something._ ’

‘Matt, I know you’re worried for him, but I mean… we really don’t have a helicopter. It’s not like we can just _fly_ to Norway.’

Matt sat in thought for a moment. ‘We could ask my uncle.’

‘Does he have a helicopter?’

‘No,’ Matt sighed. ‘He’s got guns, though.’ [I don’t know if anyone’s seen Project Library by Tim Hautekiet on YouTube but this is a reference to that]

‘How will _that_ help anything?’

‘Tom, you can’t expect us to break into the base of the greatest criminal who ever lived without weapons.’

Tom fought the urge to slap him. ‘We’re _not_ breaking into the Red Army base.’

Matt gave him a mysterious grin. ‘We’ll see about that.’

 

An hour later, after a quick middle-of-the-night visit to Matt’s uncle, who for some reason asked very few questions, Tom and Matt walked down the street just as the sun began to rise, each with a rifle on their back. They walked in silence for a moment before Tom said, ‘Matt?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Do you actually know how to use a gun?’

‘Tom?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Shut up.’

They walked on in silence for a few moments more.

‘It’s just I really-’

‘Shut _up,_ Tom.’

‘Okay.’

They found an empty park and decided to sit and rest for a little while. Tom reached into his backpack and brought out a sandwich, which they shared.

‘So, what’s actually the plan?’ Tom asked after they’d finished. ‘We’ve got no way of rescuing Edd from another country, even if we do have guns.’

‘Do you have any money?’

Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out eight pounds. ‘Not exactly enough to buy two plane tickets to Norway, now, is it?’

Matt groaned. ‘There must be _something!_ ’

The sky was slowly getting lighter. Tom was growing worried. ‘Matt, in a few minutes, people are going to start leaving their homes and seeing two teenagers with guns loitering in the park. A few minutes more and word will get out that Edd’s parents are looking for two teens that just so happen to be the same. We need to figure out something soon or get out of here.’

Just as he said this, a filth-encrusted car that looked as though it had been in at least four near-fatal accidents came trundling up the road by the park. Tom was about to try and find somewhere to hide when Matt said, ‘Wait! That’s my uncle’s car.’

They waited for the car to approach. When it came near them, Matt’s uncle wound down the window and gave them a gap-toothed grin.

‘Has your uncle ever been charged with sexual assault?’ Tom hissed in Matt’s ear. Matt waved him away and told him to shut up.

‘I forgot to tell ya, kids,’ Matt’s uncle said. ‘The other day I bought a chopper and go’ a helipad installed on me roof. I though’ ya might wanna use it, since ya needed the guns an’ all.’

Matt and Tom stared at him in disbelief.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> umm did I accidentally write Matt instead of Tom anywhere of vice versa? could u plz let me know if i did? thank


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edd wakes up to two soldiers who actually aren't as scary as he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sORRY i tried to write more angst but it just turned into this.  
> forgive me  
> also can someone please tell me wtf happened in the last chapter because i have no friggin clue  
> i apologise  
> but there is DEFINITELY angst in the next chapter.  
> next chapter he meets Tord (finally!)

Edd woke up in darkness. He strained his mind to think back to what had happened earlier. He’d spoken to Tord, and then… and then he’d been shot with a dart! And then… he must have been kidnapped.

He felt like a fool.

Being in love? It just wasn’t something Edd saw himself being good at. He was… fun, he made people laugh, he was an artist, but he was never a romantic.

And now he’d gone and gotten himself in trouble over pretending he was someone he wasn’t.

He wondered what Tom and Matt would do. Matt was always obsessed with the Red Leader, and Tom was always logical. Maybe they’d work out what had happened. Edd almost laughed at the idea. It was stupid to think the Red Leader would be clumsy enough to make it easy for two kids to stop him.

Edd tried to move his hands and realised they were bound. He’d like to think that was just one of his soulmate’s kinks, but he guessed it was more to do with being a prisoner.

His eyes slowly began to adjust to the dark, and soon he saw he was in a cell. There was a heavy-looking door directly in front of him, and apart from his hands being tied, he was free to move around.

He didn’t really see anything to do. He assumed Tord was going to see him soon, but until then, Edd just wanted to sleep.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long. The door was opened. The sudden light made Edd squint. He then saw two men standing at the door, both in a blue soldier’s uniform. Edd realised he was in the Red Army’s base, and wondered just how jealous Matt would be.

The soldiers didn’t look threatening at all. In fact, they looked kind of nice.

‘Look at him!’ one said with a smile. ‘He’s adorable! Red Leader will love him.’

Edd blinked. Were these guys for real? How could _these_ possibly be soldiers?

‘He’s something,’ said the other – this one had abnormally large eyebrows and a chewed cigarette in his mouth. ‘Nice to meet you, Edd. I’m Paul.’

‘And I’m Patryk,’ said the other soldier. ‘We spoke on the phone, remember?’

‘Anyways,’ Paul said, ‘welcome to Norway. We should probably get you cleaned up before you meet the Red Leader.’

‘Look at you,’ Patryk scolded. ‘You have dirt all over your face.’

‘I was knocked out and dragged to another country!’ Edd snapped.

Patryk tutted. ‘I don’t like your attitude, young man.’

Edd glared. ‘You’re not my mother.’

‘Well…’ Paul said, glancing at his co-worker. ‘You’ll probably never see your _real_ mother again, so parenting is our job now.’

‘I’m sixteen!’ Edd said, disgruntled. ‘I don’t need two soldiers to be my dads.’

Patryk walked over and patted him on the head. ‘Of course you don’t, dear,’ he said, so patronizing Edd wanted to hit him.

Paul held up a facecloth and, ignoring Edd’s protests, wiped his face, cleaning off the dirt. Patryk was still patting Edd’s head when he saw that his hands were still tied.

‘Paul!’ he said angrily. ‘Did you forget to untie his hands? It’s bad enough we had to put him in this cell. We can’t have him thinking we’re bad hosts!’

Paul looked sheepish.

Fuming, Patryk undid the ropes around Edd’s hands.

‘So, I’m… not a prisoner?’ Edd asked.

‘Erm…’ Patryk said.

‘Well…’ Paul said.

‘ _Technically…_ ’

‘…you still are a prisoner,’ Paul finished. ‘But a very _privileged_ prisoner. I mean, I’m sure lots of prisoners would kill for the chance to be the Red Leader’s soulmate.’

Edd didn’t know what to make of these two. Were they a couple? Were they planning on becoming his parents? So… he _wasn’t_ going to die?

‘You’re not gonna kill me?’ Edd asked quietly.

Paul and Patryk looked at each other. ‘ _Kill_ you?’ Patryk repeated. ‘Why on earth would you think that?’

‘Well, isn’t that what the Red Army does? Kill people?’

Paul and Patryk laughed. ‘Not random teenagers!’ Paul said. ‘Especially not the Red Leader’s soulmate! Why do you think he said so much on the phone? Do you think he’d say that to just anyone?’

‘But- but he made it sound as if-’

‘Oh, don’t mind him,’ Patryk said. ‘He would sound terrifying if he was selling candy floss. He’s just a bit standoffish.’

‘A bit standoffish? He kidnapped me!’

‘Because he wanted to _see_ you,’ Paul said in a soothing tone.

‘Did he really have to go to all this trouble?’

Patryk shrugged. ‘He has a flair for the dramatic.’

Edd sighed. He was stuck as a prisoner in the base of a genocidal maniac who happened to be his soulmate with two grown men who claimed to be his new parents and were treating him like he was six years old.

 He'd rather be with the genocidal maniac than his two new 'dads'.


End file.
